The present invention relates to a buckle structure including a male buckle piece and a female buckle piece. The male buckle piece has a base mount from which axially extends a pair of symmetric retaining legs having a guiding post disposed therebetween. Each retaining leg has an enlarged head portion with a leading angle and a retaining corner formed thereon. The outer edge of each retaining leg has a laterally extended abutment block. In the female buckle piece is defined a hollow interior for receiving the retaining legs with a guiding tunnel disposed at the center thereof for engaging with the guiding post. At the sides of the female buckle piece is disposed a dodging opening respectively for exposing the abutment block of each retaining leg. Each stop post is separably engaged with the retaining corner of each retaining leg in buckling up operation; and the inward actuation of the abutment block of each retaining leg permit the retaining corner to be free from the restraint of the respective stop post so that the male buckle piece can be easily and quickly freed from the female buckle piece.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional buckle structure is made up of a male buckle piece 10 and a female buckle piece 20. The male buckle piece 10 has a base portion 11 with two symmetric engagement legs 12 extending therefrom. A fork post 13 is disposed between the engagement legs 12. A rectangular slot 111 is disposed on the rear side of the base portion 11. There is a pressing face 121 defined on the outer side of each engagement leg 12. Next to the pressing face 121 is defined a retaining edge 122. Each engagement leg 12 has a slotted rear portion 123. A split 131 is defined at the center of the fork post 12. The female buckle piece 20 basically has a hollow engagement cavity 21 defined at the central portion and an insertion opening 22 defined at the rear side. A rib 23 is disposed at the center of the engagement cavity 21. On each longitudinal side of the female buckle piece 20 is disposed a locking hole 24 in communication with the engagement cavity 21. At the end of the each locking hole 24 is defined a retaining edge 25.
In assembly, as shown in FIG. 2, the engagement legs 12 and the fork post 13 of the male buckle piece 10 are inserted into the front opening 22 of the female buckle piece 20 and housed in the hollow engagement cavity 21 of the female buckle piece 20. On each side of the female buckle piece 20 is disposed the locking hole 24 for receiving the pressing face 121 of each engagement leg 12. At the rear edge of each locking 24 is provided with a retaining edge 25 so as to permit a locking edge 122 defined at the rear edge of each pressing face 121 to be in locking engagement with the retaining edge 25 as the pressing face 121 extends out of the locking hole 24. The rib 23 of the female buckle piece 20 is engaged with the split 131 of the fork post 13 of the male buckle piece 10.
Referring to FIG. 3, to get the male and female buckle pieces 10, 20 separated, the pressing faces 121 of the engagement legs 12 are forced to move inwardly so as to permit the locking edge 122 of the pressing faces 121 to be disengaged from the retaining edges 25 of the locking hole 24 of the female buckle piece 20 respectively, and the buckle pieces are pulled away from each other.
There are a couple of disadvantages associated with the conventional buckle structure given as below:
1. The pressing face 121 of the engagement leg 12 of the male buckle piece 10 is roundly curved and no guiding means is available to make the male buckle piece 10 and the female buckle piece 20 smoothly engaged with easy alignment, rendering the engagement of the male buckle piece 10 and the female buckle piece 20 relatively inconvenient and slow.
2. The disengagement of the male buckle piece 10 and the female buckle piece 20 is effected by actuation on the pressing faces 121 so as to make the engagement legs 12 of male buckle piece 10 inwardly withdrawn; such a direct pressing on the engagement legs requires more effort, making the separation of the male buckle piece 10 and the female buckle piece 20 relatively difficult.
Therefore, the primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved buckle structure wherein the front end of each retaining leg of the male buckle piece is provided with a leading angle so as to make the male and female buckle pieces be engaged with each other with precise alignment by way of the guidance of the guiding post and guiding groove. Thereby easy alignment can effectively prevent the retaining legs from astray shift in engagement, making the engagement of the male buckle piece and female buckle piece in an easy, speedy and convenient manner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved buckle structure wherein the male buckle piece and female buckle piece are separated by pressing an abutment block instead of directly forcing retaining legs. The pressing on the abutment block can produce a leverage effect on the retaining legs so that only small force is required to make the retaining legs separated, rendering easy and quick separation of the male and female buckles.